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Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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QUAL vs XLP: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to XLP's +13.8%; 5% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF, and $14.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF.

QUAL on its own →XLP on its own →
At a glance
+13.1%
QUAL total return, 1 year
+13.8%
XLP total return, 1 year
0.15%
QUAL expense ratio
0.08%
XLP expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLP costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points; QUAL is 3.3 times larger.

QUAL vs XLP: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureQUALXLP
Return
Total return, 1 year+13.1%+13.8%
Drawdown
Below its high3.5%, high on Oct 22, 2026
Benchmark
What it tracksMSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality IndexConsumer Staples Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.15%0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026$48.3bn$14.8bn
Holdings
Holdings in common5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund44.5%62.9%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

5%

By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and XLP hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first QUAL XLP
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 1.14% 9.14%
WALMART 1.04% 11.05%
PROCTER & GAMBLE 0.89% 7.69%
COCA-COLA 0.83% 7.34%
PEPSICO 0.34% 4.10%
MONSTER BEVERAGE 0.17% 3.88%
CHURCH AND DWIGHT INC 0.05% 1.49%
HERSHEY FOODS 0.05% 1.44%
MCCORMICK & CO NON-VOTING 0.02% 0.72%
Only in one fund ↓
Only in QUAL
MICROSOFT 8.09%
APPLE 7.38%
NVIDIA 6.28%
META PLATFORMS CLASS A 4.06%
ELI LILLY 4.04%
TJX 3.50%
VISA CLASS A 3.44%
LAM RESEARCH 2.84%
Only in XLP
PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL 6.56%
ALTRIA GROUP INC 4.54%
COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO 4.39%
MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC A 4.19%
TARGET CORP 3.94%
KEURIG DR PEPPER INC 2.83%
SYSCO CORP 2.35%
ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO 2.25%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF XLP State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer iShares State Street
What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor Tracks an index of Consumer staples
Total return, 1 year +13.1% +13.8%
Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (MLRG) not measured
Gap to its benchmark −0.5 pts vs MLRG not measured
Expense ratio 0.15% 0.08%
Already in the S&P 500 97.2% 99.6%
Holdings 119 36
Net assets, QUAL as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLP as of Oct 27, 2026 $48.2bn $14.6bn

QUAL and XLP on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

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About each fund
QUAL

QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 44.5%.

XLP

XLP tracks an index of Consumer staples. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 36 positions, with the top ten at 62.9%. It sat 3.5% below its high of Oct 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or XLP?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and XLP +13.8%.
Which is cheaper, QUAL or XLP?
XLP is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do QUAL and XLP overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 97% of QUAL and 100% of XLP by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
QUAL vs VDCQUAL vs XLBQUAL vs XHBQUAL vs XRTVIG vs XLPSPYM vs XLPXLG vs XLPVTI vs XLP
Where to next
QUAL on its own →XLP on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →QUAL dividend history →QUAL holdings →XLP dividend history →XLP holdings →Standards and sources →
Sources and dates
QUAL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
iShares page for QUAL ↗
XLP filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
XLP prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

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ETFIQ, QUAL against XLP, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-xlp

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.